Safety

Supporting safe operations
Over 35 years, Jabiru has designed to the continuously evolving ultralight and recreational standards and regulations, and has held type and production certificates in Australia and other countries. Currently, Jabiru positions its products in the Light Sport (LSA) and Experimental Aircraft (EA) categories. It utilises the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for design specification, quality and continuing airworthiness. For the vast majority of its current products and operations, Jabiru is a self-certifying Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) under the relevant LSA and Experimental regulations.

In deciding where to focus its safety actions, Jabiru relies heavily on the feedback of its owners, maintainers and pilots as well as information collected by administrators and regulators. In this way, we ensure our safety actions are driven by real world outcomes. Biennially, Jabiru conducts a safety review of its Australian fleet using the data generated by regulators including CASA, ATSB, BITRE and RAAus. By comparing the outcomes with the rest of the fleet we can determine how Jabiru fares in safety outcomes and help steer our focus on safety actions. This review, captures millions of hours of Jabiru flying time, providing a sound basis for statistical analysis.

To continue to support the fleet, regardless of the category in which it flies, Jabiru is committed to releasing service literature in accordance with ASTM F3198 to support the ongoing safety of the in-service fleet in accordance with the established industry recognised and approved standard. It is essential that aircraft and engine owners maintain current contact details with Jabiru so that advice of new and updated service literature can be provided promptly.

The following data was captured in the last safety review, capturing data up until the end of 2022. Occurrence data was provided by ATSB, while usage data was provided by BITRE and RAAus. Data is compared to the RAAus fleets, Australian GA recreational fleet and the FAA recreational fleet. For both of the Australian fleets, Jabiru products are removed, so the comparison is against the “rest of the fleet”

Operation Bulletproof

While Jabiru aircraft have earned their reputation for exceptional ruggedness and durability, we recognize our engines have not consistently met the same benchmark.

Our Gen 4 engines deliver world-leading power-to-weight-to-cost ratios through refined simplicity, but we’re setting our sights higher—we’re not content with meeting industry standards.  We understand that today’s pilots expect push-button reliability without compromise, Operation Bulletproof represents our commitment to delivering engines that start when you need them and keep performing flight after flight, with the same unwavering dependability as engines twice their weight.

Operation Bulletproof goes beyond design improvements to enhance every aspect of our safety model:

  • Enhanced Knowledge Sharing: Implementing more robust systems for distributing technical information and best practices
  • Revitalized Service Documentation: Completely redesigned Service Notices and Manuals with increased frequency and clarity
  • Jabiru Approved Maintainers Program: New certification program ensuring consistent maintenance standards worldwide
  • Owner/Maintainer Education: Relaunching comprehensive training courses for owners and maintenance professionals
  • Supply Chain Excellence: Rigorous review and enhancement of vendor quality standards
  • Refined Quality Processes: Implementing advanced quality control procedures throughout manufacturing

The Safety Data

The following data was captured in our last safety review, capturing data up until the end of 2022. Occurrence data was provided by Australian Transport Safety Board, while usage data was provided by Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics and Recreational Aviation Australia.

The snapshots below take in around a decade of data, during which the Jabiru fleet in Australia flies in the order of a million hours. This provides a statistically significant data set. The methodology used to collate the data and classify events is the same used by the Australian Transport Safety Board in its reporting to ensure a fair and valid method. Events are normalised by hours flown to provide an equitable comparison.

Outcomes of the Jabiru fleet are compared to the fleet registered with Recreational Aviation Australia, the Australian General Aviation recreational fleet and the Federal Aviation Administration recreational fleet. For both of the Australian fleets, Jabiru products are removed, so the comparison is against the “rest of the fleet”

Jabiru Engines